Wire-drawing apparatus



May 7, 1940. JOHNSON 2.199.496

WIRE-DRAWING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 17, 1938 z sheets-sheet 1 Figl.

I lnven'tor. Charles DUohnson May 7, 1940; JOHNSON 2,199,496

WIRE-DRAWING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 17, 1938 Fig. 5.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 w W 2423222l lnven'for. Charles Ddohnson by md WWPatented May 7, i940 PATENT OFFICE 2,199,496 wnm-nnawmq APPARATUSCharles D. Johnson, Worcester, Masst,

assign'or Johnson Steel & Wire Company, Inc.,

Worcester, Mass; a corporation of Massachusetts, f

Aiil l cation December 11, 1938, Serial No. 246,355 a (chaos-19) "Thisinvention relates continuous wiredrawing machines of the type in whichthe. wire Ls lubricated for its passage through the die by 'means of adry lubricant, this manner of drawing the wire sometimes being referredto as dry drawing method.

In some dry drawing machines, the dry lubricant is applied to the wireafter it has passed through the die and either before or at the time.

that the wire is being wound on the drawing drum. With this method ofapplying the dry lubricant, the latter not only-supplies the wire withsufllcient lubricant for its passage through the next-die but alsoserves to lubricate the wirereceiving surface of the drum so that thewire will not be injured by any slippage which may occur between thewire and the drum.

It is one of the objects'of the present invention to provide an improvedmeans for thus applying the dry lubricant to the wire after it passesthrough any die and before it is wound'on the corresponding drawingdrum.

According to my improvements, the dry lubricant is applied by passingthe wire as it comes from any die through a rotating containercontaining the dry lubricant, said container being supported to rotateabout an axis coinciding'with the portion of the wire passingtherethrough.

. Means are provided for rotating the container while the wire is beingdrawn therethrough, and the .rotation of the ouslydepositthe drylubricant on the wire passing through the container. 'I he wire comesfrom the die somewhat heated due to the action of the die thereon, andas the heated wire passes into the rotating container and. the drylubricant is deposited on the wire', the heat of the wire causes drylubricant to adhere thereto so that the wire passes out of the rotatingcontainer carrying a coating of dry lubricant.

This lubricant serves to provide the necessary lubrication between thewire and the drawing drum on which it is wound, and as the wire leavesany drawing drum and passes to the next drawing die, it will still carrysumcient dry lubricant for properly lubricating the die as the wirepasses therethrough.

The rotary containers operate somewhat as tumblers in that the rotationof the container results in agitating the dry lubricant within it, andalso provides for a .continual application of the lubricant to the wirepassing therethrough.

In order to give an understanding of the invention, I have illustratedin the drawings, a selected embodiment thereof which will now becontainer serves to continu-- described, after which the novel featureswill be pointed out in the appended claims.-

In the drawings: Fig. 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic view illustrating aportion of a continuous wire-drawing machine embodying the presentinventio a Fig. 2 is a sectional view through one of the containers fordry lubricant showing the wire passing therethrough;

Fig. 3 is a section on. the line 3-3,-Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view showing the manner thecontainer;

Fig. 5 is a side view of one drawing drum of a continuous wire-drawingmachine together with .its drawing die and the rotary container forapplying dry lubricant to the wire;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of Fig. 5. In the drawings, I indicates aplurality of drawing drums-of a continuous wire-drawing machine and 2indicates the drawing dies for the drums.

The wire 3 which is being drawn passes through of closing the slot in ia die 2 and thence passes to the wire-receiving surface '4 of thecorresponding drawing drum 1,

said wire being wound around the drum several turns and then passingfrom the drum to the nextdrawing die 2, and from said next drawing die 2to the wire-receiving surface of the next drawing drum l, and so on.

5 indicates idler rolls around which the wire passes between successivedrawing drums, these idlers 5 being herein shown as between each drumand next drawing die of the series.

Each drawing drum I is supported on a suitable shaft 6 by which it isrotated and any suitable means (not shown) .may be employed for rotatingthe various shafts 6 at the correct speed. v

Theparts thus far described are such as may be commonly found incontinuous wire-drawing machines and-form no part of my presentinvention, which relates particularly to a novel way of applying drylubricant to the wire.

Situated between each drawing die 2 and its drawing drum is a rotarycontainer 1 adapted to contain dry lubricant 8 wire passes in its travelfrom the die 2 to the drum I. This container 1 is mounted for rotationabout an axiswhich coincides with the portion of the wire passingtherethrough, the wire and through which the thus passing axiallythrough the container. The

rotation of the container 8 therein agitated, and at the same time keepsdropping or depositing dry lubricant onto the wire. The wire comes fromthe die 2 somewhat keeps the dry lubricant heated, and as the hot wirepasses through the container 1, the dry lubricant which is deposited onthe wire will be softened somewhat by the heat of the wire and willadhere to the wire so that the wire emerges from the container 1 with acoating of dry lubricant thereon.

This coating of dry lubricant is sufficient to provide the necessarylubrication between the turns 9 of the wire which are wound about thedrum 1 and the wire-receiving surface 4 of the drum, and as the wire 3leaves the drum l and passes to the next die '2, said wire will stillcarry a sufficient coating of dry lubricant to properly lubricate thedie 2.

The container 1 may be made in various ways without departing from theinvention. As herein shown, it is in the form of a cylindrical shellprovided with trunnions H) which are journ'aled in suitable supports H.The side wall of the container shell I is provided with a slot I2 andthe end walls l3 are provided with radial slots M which communicate withthe slot I2. The trunnions l are-also provided with radial slotslicorresponding to the slots l4. These slots l2 and I4 and [5 providemeans for placing the wire into the container.

In order to prevent the dry lubricant from leaking out from the slots l2and M as the container is rotated, I propose to employ felt strips I6 atthe edges of the slots, said strips being secured to the shell in anysuitable way, as by means of clamping plates l'l.

The felt strips l6 close the slots sufiiciently to prevent the drylubricant from leaking through the slots as the container is rotated;but the yielding or flexible quality of the felt strips permits the wireto be forced through the slots into the container, as shown in Fig. 2. g

The container is shown as formed in its side wall with a filling openingl8 through which diry lubricant may be deposited into the container,said opening being adapted to'be closed by a sliding cover l9.

Any suitable means may be employed for rotating the container 1. In theillustrated embodiment of the invention, each container is suppliedexteriorly with a ring gear 20 which meshes with a driving pinion 2|mounted on a driving shaft 22. The shafts 22 may be rotated from anysuitable source of power, and by their rotation, they give the necessaryrotary movement to the containers 1.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the driving shafts 22are all operatively connected to and driven by a power shaft 25. Eachshaft 22 is shown as having a beveled gear 23 thereon which meshes withbeveled gear 24 on the power shaft 25, this power shaft 25 thus beingcommon to all of the rotary containers. The

shaft 25 may be driven from any suitable source of power.

It will be understood, of course, that the ring gear 20 is to have aslot coinciding with the slot l2 and through which the wire may bepassed.

With the above construction, the dry lubricant will be supplied to thewire after it emerges from any die and before it is wound on thecorresponding drawing drum, and the heat in the wire will cause the drylubricant which is deposited thereon within the container 1 to besufficiently softened so that the lubricant will adhere to the wire andthe wire will emerge from the container with a coating of dry lubricantthereon which is sufficient to provide not only the necessarylubrication between the turns 9 of the wire and the wire-receivingsurface 4 of the drum, but also the necessary lubrication for the wireas it passes through the next drawing die 2.

I claim:

1. A continuous wire-drawing machine comprising a plurality of drawingdies through which the wire is drawn successively, a drawing drum foreach die, a rotary container for dry lubricant associated with each die,the side wall and end walls of each container being slotted to permitthe wire to be introduced thereinto, means for closing said slotsagainst the escape therethrough of the dry lubricant. in the containerwhile permitting the wire to be entered into the container through theslots, and means to rotate said containers. I

2. A wire-drawing machine comprising a drawing die, a drawing drum fordrawing wire through said die, a rotary container for dry lubricantassociated with the die, said container having a trunnion at each endprovided with an axial wirereceiving bore, said container also havingcommunicating slots in its side wall, end walls and I trunnions throughwhich the wire can be introduced, said wire passing axially through thetrunnions and container, and means to rotate the container.

3. A wire-drawing machine comprising a drawing die, a drawing drum fordrawing wire through said die, a rotary container for dry lubricantassociated with the die, said container having a trunnion at each endprovided with an axial wire-receiving bore, said'container also havingcommunicating slots in its side wall, end wall and trunnions throughwhich the wire can be introduced, said wire passing axially through thetrunnions and container, means to rotate the container, and means forclosing the slots in the side wall and end walls of the containeragainst the escape therethrough of the dry lubricant in the containerwhile permitting the wire to be introduced into the container throughsaid slots.

" CHARLES D. JOHNSON.

